Groups say school revampings hurt poor neighborhoods

February 17, 2009

A coalition opposed to Chicago Public Schools leaders' plan to close down and reorganize schools released two studies today saying the efforts have not led to improvements and have focused on poor neighborhoods undergoing gentrification.

The reports were released by members of the Grassroots Educational Movement, a coalition of community, parents and teachers groups opposing plans to close and reorganize 22 schools under the district's Renaissance 2010 initiative.The initiative, begun by Mayor Richard Daley in 2004, calls for creating 100 new schools - often in shuttered neighborhood schools -- and putting them under the control of private groups. Officials said that under the proposal, 16 of the schools are being closed because of underenrollment and staff at six struggling schools will have to reapply for their jobs.

At a news conference in the lobby of Chicago Public Schools headquarters, group members called on the district to put off a Feb. 25 vote on the proposals. They also supported efforts by state officials for a one-year moratorium on any closures and called for more community input on the district's decision making process, said Jitu Brown, a member of the group.

"Our parents want to send their children to a world class school in their neighborhood," Brown said. "CPS is making life altering decisions using [a] bad process and bad data and that is having a catastrophic impact.''

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago found that the students affected by school closings over the last two years have largely Latino and African-American. The study found that while housing prices in many of these neighborhoods boomed, many economically disadvantages families were priced out.

The study also found that this push out may have lead to decreased enrollment at Peabody and Carpenter schools in the West Town communities.

Pauline Lipman, one of the authors of the study, said the district failed to accurately analyze how the schools were being utilized.

The study found that at Carpenter Elementary which is set to be phased out, about 28 percent of its students have disabilities requiring smaller and specialized classrooms. At Peabody, which is slated for closing, smaller class sizes have helped it to achieve academically.